


Thespian

by Eskiwen



Series: Fate Week 2021 [2]
Category: Fate/Grand Order
Genre: Fate Week 2021, Fate Week 2021 Day 2: Identity, Formatting continues to be my vice but it's not as bad, Gen, I love one old man, this is basically a fic version of a twitter thread I made
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-14
Updated: 2021-01-14
Packaged: 2021-03-16 13:21:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,685
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28707318
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eskiwen/pseuds/Eskiwen
Summary: Written for Fate Week 2021, Day two - Identity.Thespian(thes·pi·an |ˈthe-spē-ən)adjective-pertaining to tragedy or to the dramatic art in general.Noun-an actor or actress." - Yes, the role of the Villain is quite difficult."
Series: Fate Week 2021 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2104092
Comments: 2
Kudos: 19





	Thespian

_The stage is ready - a velvet curtain across it's expanse, blocking the set and troupe and stagehands from view._

_A quiet hum from the audience a fills the area; anticipation rising in the air like static electricity._

_They are here to view one thing, and one thing only - they demand it._

_T_ _hey will not accept anything else._

_A story of a man, and his defeat..._

_The lights dim and the curtains rise as the Actor takes a breath, closes his eyes - and steps on stage, transformed._

***

**Act One.**

He is the Napoleon of Crime, the ruler of London's seedy underbelly - the man that holds it in an iron fist, yet so beloved in public that he can never be publicly accused outright. The classic archetype of the clever, dangerous man that hides himself, the Old Spider that holds everything in his web - attuned to each and every pull of his string.

Of course, such a man was merely Evil to his core from the start. Or was possessed of a strange warping of spirit, despite the good stock he came from. Anything else was unthinkable - crime and ill deeds ran in his blood from the very start, it _had_ to. 

\- _A single Book, containing a truth so horrifying it was immediately plunged into darkness, and his academic career along with it_ -

To prove it. This was the single reason he turned to Evil after his formulas were discarded and ignored, but it was more than that. 

Fun. He had fun doing what he did, as a criminal. How horrible, how gastly! How could such a person _not_ be a devil? A scoundrel? The truest representation of Evil upon London's soil, the originator and perpetrator of so many crimes? 

Of course, fate had it's own plans. Such Evil could not be allowed to continue unchecked, nor should it! So it was only natural when, despite all of his careful planning and meticulous hiding, Good came to drag him out into the light.

So he threatened, sought out that single being tugging at his strings in an attempt to tear his web down.

\- _A single warning that was never heeded, and he left the flat feeling cold and miserable_ -

It failed, of course. Good would never bend to Evil. 

So he attempted to have the detective killed, but it didn't work. Of course it didn't! It would never work. There were too many forces at play, but the mastermind continued, vowing to destroy the threat even at the cost of himself. Mutual destruction, totally and utterly, without hesitation.

All too soon, the web came tumbling down, and he fled to the mainland after the detective, never stopping. A life in ruins - which was well deserved, of course! - and a single loyal man at his side, evading capture all for that final, final confrontation. His final triumph before he vanished, that _despicable_ man must have been thinking.

Kill the Detective - by having him tumble into the falls when no one was around - and quietly live his life out in another country, far away from his past deeds. Stubborn to the end, only wishing to show that he would be victorious over such a small setback! That he would continue to be a grand master of Evil, now and forever!

\- _He tells Moran to not bring the rifle, and leaves his own weapon in the hotel room_ -

Destiny, as always, had other plans. 

As with all Evil, the fate he had intended for another sucked him in, and the Falls' cold waters swallowed him whole. A fitting end for a horrible man, to be broken upon the rocks and drowned, unable to charm or talk or cajole or threaten his way out of his final resting place. 

The detective? Oh, of course he survived! That was only natural. He was Good, and thus fate would allow for him to live. Even attempting to go against the man was a fool's errand, because who would survive against the protagonist?

The criminal mastermind - the _Villain_ \- was defeated, and the world was better for his absence. 

**End of Act One.**

*******

_The actor steps back behind the stage, taking in a breath before sitting down in a nearby chair._

_On stage, the play continues on, the lead Role doing his own part._

_For now - for the foreseeable future - the actor can rest, and has no other part he needs to play._

_He closes his eyes._

_It feels like an eternity goes by, in the quiet darkness of the backstage._

_It feels as if he is underwater, peacefully afloat._

_But all too soon, the second act, helpfully penned in the script by his own hand and one other's, begins._

_So he steps onto the stage once more._

***

**Act Two.**

But, of course, the villain could not be satisfied with just that, even in death! And when he was found by a fellow being of Evil, who burned with rage towards someone the mastermind had never met. So they made a horrible, terrible plan - one that no sane person would ever make, full of trickery and deceit.

And for what end? It was simple, so horribly, infuriatingly simple! He merely wished to triumph over the man who had thwarted him, as much as the demon wanted to kill the person who had also stopped the plans he had made. United together by that single thread of vengeance, the two villains began their plot. Overwriting appearances, fusing spirits together, erasing memories - the tapestry of Evil they wove was a large and horrible one indeed, all centered around a massive tower and a meteor and a perfect, singular crime.

So the villain met the Protagonist of the second act, and embarked on their journey together in a city of eternal night. 

Though he had no memory, the Villain still knew of his true nature, intrinsically! Because it was written into him, it was in his very blood and bones and soul, as if had to be. And of course, even his nemesis had come - but that was planned from the start. After all, the entirety of the plan that he could no longer remember...was a trap! It was a trap for him, and for the young Master of elsewhere, who had gained the ire of the Demon he was aligned with.

That villain truly did villanious things, even without any memory. Though it was for the sake of getting through, he still took in the changed body of someone who was once human and fit them with a bomb, and nearly made the young protagonist set it off themselves. How devilish and vile of him!

\- _Ritsuka nodded and reached for the switch resolutely and without hesitation; and something in him lurched horribly, knowing he couldn't let Ritsuka do it_ -

Playing up to the trust of the Master, he made it seem like he only knew so much - though he did only know a little, because the plan hinged on throwing everything away! Madness, the sheer madness of such a thing, was needed so that his enemy would not realize what was happening. He claimed to be the 'Good' inside himself - what a pitiful lie for someone rotten to the core! - and fooled them all, even himself!

He allowed the protagonist to be kidnapped and face danger, for the sake of that. He didn't try to argue that the Master should leave the singularity - a singularity that would vanish on it's own! - because they needed the Master to be Good enough to stay and meet the end that they planned. Though he needed to be attached to the protagonist for it, could someone truly attached allow them to die like that without being utterly corrupted and rotten to the core? 

\- _You're a good person, Ritsuka said; and he wanted to refute it because Good was something he wasn't, or could ever truly be like this_ -

Regardless, the plan worked. The Villain regained his full memory and betrayed them all, and won his hard earned victory. He overturned the fate between him and his nemesis, and quietly waited for his end. 

The Protagonist did not give up, however, so he had to bring his power to bear against them! Fighting them off, even after the Demon died - Victory, true victory so close, and he almost fulfilled! Soon, his perfect crime would be proven, he had triumphed, and it would all be over! But in his hubris, he explained, and the protagonist was able to rally the forces against him. Written ghosts more solid than he was appeared, all of them detectives - his fundamental weakness, something he could never overturn! 

_\- He was declared the culprit, and he realized he had a choice to make -_

_\- When was it? -_

_\- When was it when Ritsuka became so dear to him...? -_

Confident in his borrowed power, the villain admitted his misdeeds - and lost everything in a single moment, just as he had in the past! For since he had never been caught, he did not realize that he would lose all his abilities. 

So he was caught, and defeated once more. And he bemoaned his own loss, even as the Master told him why he lost.

Because, in the end, he had too much fu -

_\- It's because you're a good person. -_

....

...The villain, having tasted a little bit of Good, vanished.

**End of Act Two.**

***

_The actor went backstage once more, as his Role was complete._

_In the darkness, hearing the play go on without him, he thought to himself._

_Who was he?_

_Before this stage, before the Role he was called on to play._

_Did he even truly exist?_

_Or was he merely someone deluding himself into being?_

_..._

_In the end, he decided it didn't matter._

_He was defined by his Role, and by his existence here._

_He had very few regrets, despite the Evil he stained himself with._

_Despite his own self-reprimands, noticeable only to himself..._

_In the end, he accepted it, as he always has._

_But this time, it was a little easier._

_This time..._

**\- Because you're a good person. -**

_....He had met someone precious, for the first time._

**Author's Note:**

> "While you are good, you bear no hatred for evil.
> 
> Despite being tormented at the hands of evil, you continue to persevere in your righteousness.
> 
> ...Listen to me.
> 
> Regardless of what anyone might say...that is a splendid thing."


End file.
